Under the Skin
by TwinEnigma
Summary: AU Take one overly impatient youkai, a curse, a magic well, an ancient hanyou, a cursed jewel and a reborn miko and blend. The result... Chaos.
1. Impatience

Under the Skin

By TwinEnigma

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_Blanket disclaimer_: Anything you recognize, except for my OCs and the plot, I don't own. I do this for fun and absolutely no profit.

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Prologue: Impatience

Musashi, Early 1497

The last remnants of winter were fading from the land already, the last tears of the Snow Princess lightly dusting the ground as the earth slowly moved into the change of seasons. Dead brush partially concealed the clearing from the untended shrine in the distance. The ancient Goshinboku spread its branches to the sky in silent supplication, alive even in its death-like sleep. Creeping vines curled around the base of the ancient tree, winding around the deathly-still figure of a boy pinned to the wood.

Like the tree, the silver-haired boy was alive and, paradoxically, dead at the same time. A geas had bound him in that state, doomed to remain a prisoner outside of life and death for all eternity.

Amber eyes narrowed in undisguised disgust and anger at the imprisoned boy. Then, they snapped away, fixed on the withered form of a human woman – a kuro miko with a scarred right eye. She had the faint scent of youkai lingering on her, but it was of no difference to him. He had hired her for her talents, not for the low-classed creatures she bartered with.

"This Sesshoumaru is not enamored of delays, _ningen_," he hissed dangerously, a sneer curling his lips. No, he had waited far too long to get the inheritance he was entitled to and, now that only a geas and that half-breed brat stood in his way, he would be cursed before he waited any longer.

The kuro miko snorted and slowly approached the base of the tree. "These things take time, my lord, and I am not as young as I used to be," she ground out, using a thicker vine to lift herself up. "Kikyou was powerful – if naïve – and I do not expect her to have made this easy to break."

Sesshoumaru ignored her; youkai of his station did not have to listen to the ignorant babblings of foolish human wretches.

"Stupid girl never should have fallen in love with a hanyou," the kuro miko muttered, intently examining the trapped boy and the arrow pinning him to the tree. "All it brought her was death."

The taiyoukai shot a piercing glare at the old woman. "Need this Sesshoumaru remind you that you are not being _paid_ to talk?"

"You are impatient," the kuro miko said plainly, raising her eyes. "One would almost think my lord is still a child by his tone."

This time he did not conceal his snarl as his eyes flashed with rage. "You forget your place!"

However, she paid him no mind and tentatively reached for the arrow. Pink energy arced along the wooden shaft, crackling angrily at the intruding hand. The kuro miko closed her eyes and frowned, feeling out the energies of the curse. Finally, she drew her hand away and slowly lowered herself from the tree. "I cannot free him from this geas, my lord."

"Explain." It was an order, laced with an undercurrent of growing fury.

She gestured to the boy and absently said, "By Kikyou's hand he was bound, thus by Kikyou's hand he must be unbound."

Silence weighed heavily in the air between demon and human.

"It matters not," the kuro miko sighed, letting her arm fall. "Kikyou is dead. The geas will stand for all time."

_That_ would not do. Sesshoumaru scowled, "Where is her body?"

At that, she laughed. "What would you have me do? I have not the power to raise the dead! Even if I would have such power, it matters not. Fifty years have passed, my lord, more than enough time for a soul to have moved on. You would do better to wait and let her spirit find its way back here."

"And _when_ might this Sesshoumaru expect that to happen?" he bit out, none too pleased.

The kuro miko shook her head. "That, no mortal being can know. It may be centuries before the soul of Kikyou is drawn back to this land."

"Centuries," the taiyoukai repeated blankly. His left eye twitched as his youki boiled beneath his skin. Out of respect for his father, he had waited a century before deciding to pursue Tessaiga. Near to a full century had passed since he had started his search and he was starting to get annoyed. He wanted that sword. Not in centuries, _now._

"If that is all, my lord, I would like my payment," the kuro miko announced.

Sesshoumaru forced his ire back for a moment and snarled, "That will _not_ be all, ningen. Your services are still required."

"I hardly think you understand, _youkai_," she countered, her own aura spiking dangerously as she spat the last word. "There is nothing more I can do for you."

The youki whirled into a frenzy, burning for blood, and he was all too glad to waken the poison in his veins. This impudent human deserved to die. Disrespect would not be tolerated. "You will do as this Sesshoumaru commands or you will die," he growled with bared teeth, slowly raising his left hand. The glowing sickly green poison swirled around his hand dangerously.

"I will do no such thing, you spoiled brat!" the kuro miko shouted. "Come to your senses and accept that you are powerless in matters beyond this world!"

She is still useful, he reminded himself and charged forward. His right hand easily clamped around her throat, keeping her from moving but not choking – not yet, anyway. Human flesh was so easily damaged. "I beg to differ," he hissed, raising his left hand.

The kuro miko radiated anger, touched with the tang of fear. Her eyes locked onto his, blazing with defiance. "You foolish boy," she whispered. "As impatient as a child..."

Her aura flared brilliantly as lancing pain shot through his leg. The taiyoukai glanced down and internally swore. A hebi shikigami coiled around his lower leg, its fangs sunk deep into his thigh. With his free hand, he tore the serpent away and dissolved it with his poison, only to howl in anger when a second shikigami sunk its fangs into his shoulder. He was forced to drop the kuro miko to reach it, but it made no difference now: he was going to kill her for this.

"Old as you are, lord youkai, in manner you are still a child," she continued, narrowing her eyes at him as another shikigami struck. "A brat such as you sees naught beyond their own desires and whims."

Sesshoumaru growled at her, his eyes bleeding red. "How _dare_ you!" he roared, the urge to see her body torn to shreds beneath the paws of his true form rising strongly. He violently ripped the hebi shikigami from his shoulder, crushing it in an instant. He fully intended to do the same to the damn human.

The kuro miko shook her head slowly and raised her hands. The energy that gathered there was tainted with darkness, but its very nature was still anathema to his kind. "You are no better than a child, youkai," she hissed, letting her energy pool even further. "No better than a filthy _ningen_ child!"

With that, she shoved the burning energy right into his face.

Roaring in pain as he was violently thrown back, the taiyoukai was slammed into a tree and slid to the ground less than gracefully. His vision was now a curtain of blood, but his healing abilities were quick and would fix that soon enough. Instinctively, he leapt to his feet and focused on finding the human with his intact senses.

The next blast was more powerful, flinging him a good distance out of the clearing and set his senses reeling. Disoriented, he struggled to gain his bearings and wiped his rapidly healing eyes of his blood with a sleeve. "Kuso," Sesshoumaru ground out through his bared teeth. Holy energy, even tainted, hurt like all hell when wielded by someone who actually had the talent for it. Of course, it would take more than that to kill a youkai of his station – a hell of a lot more. The worst this human filth could do was smack him around a little and scratch his skin.

He waited, listening carefully for the approach of the kuro miko. His vision was still blurry, but it was getting better every second. A twig snapped and he launched himself at the sound, claws reaching for his target. Hot blood washed over his fingers as he impaled his right hand into her shoulder and then the burning energy slammed into his right side. With a yelp, he withdrew his hand from the wound and leapt back.

"Heh, youkai..." the kuro miko smiled grimly, pressing her hand over the gaping wound. "You're persistent."

"Silence, _subeta_," Sesshoumaru snarled, dropping low to the ground. He wanted to transform and litter her blood all over Musashi, but it seemed much too impersonal a way to kill this bitch.

"Your brother was persistent, too, you know," she said, eyes deadly cold. "Ironic, isn't it, that you, his elder, are to share a similar fate."

That tore it. The taiyoukai howled in pure rage, his eyes a violent bloody red, and launched at the kuro miko, intent on her utter obliteration. It seemed she had been expecting this and pushed almost every ounce of energy she had against him. Dimly, he became aware that the energy was pushing into the unhealed wounds caused by the shikigami before he was tossed back like a rag doll for the third time. There was a sickening crack as his head connected with something hard and he dropped into darkness.

Slowly, the kuro miko staggered out of the trees, and made her way to the old dry well. A streak of fresh youkai blood ran down the inside. Of all the good luck: the bastard landed in the Bone Eater's Well!

"Zamaamiyagare!" she said coldly and spat on the ground. Then, she turned away and frowned. "...Bastard didn't even pay me."

* * *

Tokyo, Early 1997 

It was a normal day in the Higurashi household. Souta was trying to coax Buyo out of his closet with one of the plastic jewel charms from the gift shop. Jii-chan was attempting to lecture Kagome on one of the many shrine legends while she did her homework. And Mama – as she affectionately preferred to be called – was cleaning up the dishes from dinner.

Yes, life was astoundingly normal for this little shrine family.

Unfortunately, 'normal' decided to fly out the proverbial window at this point in time and drop something entirely unexpected into the laps of the Higurashi family.

A loud boom, followed shortly by brilliant light, came from the direction of the well house. The entire household stopped. Mama put down the plate she was washing, looked to Jii-chan, and then looked to her daughter.

"Kagome, go get the baseball bat and a flashlight from Souta's room," she said, finally. Her daughter nodded and obediently went to retrieve said objects.

"I'll bet its vandals!" Jii-chan cried, looking devastated. "The Bone Eater's Well has been here for over five hundred years! What if it was damaged?"

Mama rolled her eyes and sighed. "Jii-chan, why don't you go call the police for me? I'm sure whoever it was didn't stay after _that_, but I still should have a look around."

"What if it was the youkai?" the old man protested. "You're not going out there without the proper wards, young lady!"

She shot him a stern look. _"Jii-chan..._ the light didn't come from the shrine of Inuyasha. I think we would know if _he_ got loose. Mou... Can you imagine a youkai from the Sengoku Jidai running around in Tokyo? Poor thing would probably die of shock!"

"POOR THING!" he shouted, aghast. "Youkai are _not_ 'poor things'!"

Kagome fortunately returned at this point and Mama gratefully accepted the baseball bat and the flashlight. She quickly checked the batteries and gave her daughter a look that firmly said to hold down the fort until she returned. With bat and flashlight at ready, Mama went into the living room and fearlessly opened the shoji door.

Jii-chan wailed something about 'evil, human-devouring youkai' and 'sharp, pointy teeth' from inside before the diligent Kagome shut the shoji door again.

Mama silently blessed her daughter and continued on to the well house. A light dusting of snow covered the ground – late for this time of year – but, as she trained the flashlight over the powdery snow, she could find no evidence than anyone had passed here at all. Raising the flashlight to the well house itself, she could plainly see that the doors were still intact and closed.

She paused at the doors, raising the bat and taking a deep breath.

"Well, are you going in or not?" Jii-chan asked from beside her. Kagome and Souta stood behind him, both wearing curious expressions.

"KYAHHHHHHHH!" Mama shrieked, practically leaping in surprise. "What are you doing out here!"

"I wanted to see the youkai!" Souta replied, not realizing that it had been a rhetorical question aimed at the whole group.

Mama's eye twitched involuntarily. "Then go to the Goshinboku and visit Inuyasha's shrine."

"Mou... But he doesn't _do_ anything, Mama!" the little boy complained.

"Da-hah! That's right!" Jii-chan proclaimed with pride. "He was bound by the most powerful of seals and our ancestors have maintained them since that time, so that his evil may never scourge the land again!"

Kagome rolled her eyes.

Mama sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in an attempt to ward off the rapidly forming headache her family was giving her. Kami-sama, she loved them, but there were times that she wanted to strangle them all! "BACK TO THE HOUSE! ALL OF YOU!" she cried, using the dreaded technique taught to her by the women of the Tendo Dojo.

Seeing the Aura of Doom shooting up around their mother, Kagome and Souta wisely fled back to the safety of the house. Jii-chan, naturally, was completely oblivious and had to be dragged along by the two children.

Once again, Mama turned to the doors of the well house and carefully slid them open. She raised the flashlight and slowly swept it over the room. Pieces of the well's wooden cover were scattered all over the ground. It was as though something had burst from inside the well – which, of course, was impossible.

A soft, dog-like whine came from inside the well.

Startled, Mama hurried down the stairs and pointed the flashlight down into the well. "Oh, kami-sama!" she gasped, seeing the form curled on the bottom. "Stay right there! I'm going to get a ladder!"

* * *

Sesshoumaru lay absolutely still in the darkness of the dry well. His entire body was in burning pain from the tainted purification energy and most of his senses were significantly dampened. It wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't gotten into those wounds from the shikigami, but that seemed to have been the damn kuro miko's idea from the start. He seethed internally, unable to even snarl without pain. The bitch must have known that it was harder for him to fight purification attacks if they got under his skin. As soon as his youki fought off this energy, he was going to track her down and rip her to pieces... slowly. 

His senses may have been all out of sorts from the energy, but he was quite certain that he heard a scream and some muted voices. He hoped it was some villagers stumbling across the kuro miko's body. She had been bleeding badly from the hole he put through her shoulder and humans were far too weak to survive those types of injuries for very long. There was more shouting and a flare of youki just on the edge of his senses. Nothing to worry about as long as they didn't look in the well, he reasoned.

And that was when the burning pain decided to get worse.

Sesshoumaru couldn't stop the soft whine that escaped his throat as the pain lanced through his body. Kuso! What the hell was going on? It shouldn't be getting worse! Clamping his eyes shut and clenching his teeth, he tried to focus on gathering his youki. He was a taiyoukai, damn it, and he would not be cowed by the tainted energy of some insolent, puny human bitch!

Dimly, he was able to make out the sound of movement above him, followed by the thud of something landing nearby. He whimpered as another lance of pain shot through his body, sending stars shooting across his eyelids.

"Are you all right?" a voice – female, he noted absently – asked from somewhere close by.

"...Hurts," he growled, in too much pain to say anything else.

"Hold on, we're going to get you out of here," the woman's voice said soothingly. Icy fingertips touched his skin. "Can you tell me your name?"

"...esshou..." he slurred. It was getting difficult to think straight.

"It's going to be OK," the woman said.

What a weird word, he thought before finally passing out.

* * *

AN: The Sesshoumaru plushie compelled me to write this, which started out as a weird plotbunny about youki and then got transformed by the plushie into something completely different. Sesshie is a bad-ass, but he strikes me as such a brat sometimes. Yeah, there is a reference to Ranma 1/2 in there somewhere. More of a nod, actually. Inuyasha will show up in the next chapter or two. Sorry if Sesshoumaru seems a little out of character, but the black miko does basically insult him when he's already angry and then – to add insult to injury – compares him to his half-brother, which as we all know is a big no-no with both Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru. 

Words I used that you probably don't know and I use because I feel they don't really translate into English well but more accurately fit the feeling of the scene:

Hebi – snake, serpent

Subeta – (expletive) "bitch"

Zamaamiyagare! – Very rude way of saying "You got what you deserved!" More akin to "You got what you effing deserved!"

Mou – sound used to express disappointment or something to that effect. No real translation.


	2. Mysterious

Under the Skin

By TwinEnigma

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Scroll 1: Mysterious

Mama smiled as she prepared bento for her children, aware of the amber eyes that followed her every movement. A month had passed since the 'well incident' and the Higurashi household had once again fallen into a normal routine. Of course, changes had been made to accommodate for their guest, but they were not so much as to fundamentally transform the comfortable rhythm of things.

The police hadn't been able to tell them who had broken into the well house that night, nor how their guest had gotten there. It had been a general consensus that the vandals had taken some of the more valuable shrine relics and were attempting to hide them in the well for later retrieval when their guest had literally stumbled on to them. Now and again, the detectives would call, but their reports were always the same, holding no more answers than they had before.

Jii-chan was relieved when it was determined that there had been minimal damage to the ancient well; the cover was the only thing broken and it was easily replaced. The relics that the vandals had stashed at the bottom of the well were also unharmed, though they were splattered with blood. They, along with the white pelt and silk clothing, were only able to be cleaned after the police had taken samples of the blood and properly photographed each item.

This, naturally, brought her thoughts to their guest, 'Isshou.'

Pale-skinned and startlingly intelligent for his age, Isshou was something of a mystery. He appeared to be younger than Souta by a year or two, although no one knew for certain exactly how old he really was. In fact, they could not even be certain that Isshou was his real name, for the police had yet to find records of missing children fitting his description. But all this was no matter to Mama, who had taken to the small boy from the very moment she'd seen him lying injured at the bottom of the well.

She felt a gentle tug on her apron and looked down into his amber eyes with a gentle smile. "Isshou, why don't you go fetch Kagome? She'll be late for school if she doesn't hurry up."

He didn't answer, merely blinking languidly before finally nodding slowly.

Mama gave him a gentle pat on the head and watched as he scampered off towards the stairs. She didn't mind these periods of silence from him, for they didn't last very long. During these times, it almost seemed like he was someone else entirely and then, suddenly, he would be laughing and running around like any other child his age.

"ISSHOU, YOU LITTLE PERVERT! GET OUT OF HERE!" Kagome's angry shout was immediately punctuated by the slamming of a door and the sound of hastily fleeing footsteps.

Souta laughed from the living room as Isshou bolted by; he knew full well what it was like to be facing the wrath of his older sister and was obviously glad to not be on the receiving end of it this time.

Mama gave her son a pointed glare and Souta instantly silenced, looking quite sheepish. It was her implicit instruction to both of her children that they be on their best behavior with their guest, as he had been through a very tough experience. That meant that she would tolerate absolutely no giggling from her children at Isshou's accidental misfortunes in adjusting to life in her somewhat quirky household. Her daughter's reaction could be excused: she had much the same reaction whenever Souta happened to walk in on her, as often happened when Kagome was running late in the morning.

Speaking of her daughter, Kagome was currently hopping down the stairs, tugging on a sock with one hand and frantically chanting, "Late, late, late, late!"

"Your bento, dear," Mama smiled, holding out the box.

Kagome was a blur as she ran into the kitchen, grabbing the bento, deftly scooping up her knapsack and bolting for the door. "Thanksmom! Iloveyoubye!"

"Don't forget your shoes!" Mama called after her. "Souta, you should get going too."

Souta gave her a confused look. "What about Isshou, Mama? Isn't he coming to school today?"

"Not today, dear," Mama replied, pressing the second bento into her son's hands. "Now, run along! Shoo!"

"Yes, Mama," Souta sighed, shuffling off towards the door.

After some careful consideration, Mama had decided to enroll Isshou in the same school as Souta. It would not do to neglect his education indefinitely while the authorities looked for his family and, at the very least, school would provide him with some sort of structure. That and Isshou would have completely exhausted Jii-chan's supply of legends in a matter of months, for it seemed that Isshou was deeply fond of legends about youkai and would ask for them at any given opportunity.

Isshou tugged on her apron again and plainly said, "You're taking me to see the social workers today, aren't you?"

"Yes," she sighed.

He gave a stubborn pout. "I don't like them. They ask stupid questions."

"Isshou, they're just trying to help you," Mama explained, patiently. "That's why they ask you all those questions, to help."

His sullen expression didn't change.

Mama rolled her eyes and sighed again, gently pulling him into a hug. "Oh, come now. We'll go to the park on the way back and then, tonight, I'll make steak as a treat."

Isshou's amber eyes glowed as a broad grin spread across his face.

Bless that boy, he couldn't resist steak and Mama knew it.

* * *

"Isshou, I need you to tell me about your parents," the social worker said, looking a bit frustrated. He was called Hieda, one of the two social workers assigned to Isshou's case. "You've got to help us if we're going to help you."

The little boy shrugged absently and continued drawing with his crayons.

Behind a pane of two-way mirrored glass, Mama watched the interview with a somber face. Hieda's partner, Mizuhara, and a detective stood next to her, their eyes fixed on the boy sitting at the table.

"We're not going to get very far if he keeps this up," the detective sighed, putting his hands on his hips. "Has he mentioned anything, Higurashi-san? Anything at all?"

Mama raised her fingers to the glass and gave a heavy sigh. "I don't know what to tell you, Kusanagi-san. Most of the time, Isshou seems perfectly fine, but there are times when I have to wonder. He becomes quiet, withdrawn... almost like another person entirely."

"Does there seem to be something that sets off these episodes? An image on the TV?" the detective offered. "Maybe something someone said?"

The woman shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry, but I can't think of anything. One minute, he's perfectly fine and the next..." she trailed off, gesturing to the small boy other side of the glass.

Isshou stared directly at them, almost as though he could see through the reflective side of the glass. He blinked once, slowly, and then turned away.

Mizuhara shivered unconsciously and took a step back from the glass. "Does he always do that?" she asked, looking slightly shaken.

"Yes," Mama replied, "Every so often."

Isshou picked up a crayon and reached for a new sheet of paper. He paused for a moment and then began to draw again.

"Isshou, can you tell me about this drawing?" Hieda asked gently. He held the discarded drawing out towards the boy. "Is this your home?"

The boy looked up, seemingly disinterested, and went back to his new drawing. "That is the shrine, where I live now, and they are the Higurashi family," he said in a rather flat, dismissive tone. "I have no home."

Mama was momentarily taken aback by that statement, but something deep in her gut told her that this wasn't the boy she knew speaking.

"Why don't you have a home? Did something happen?" Hieda prodded, hoping to prompt a response.

Isshou ignored him, picked up the red crayon and began scribbling intently.

"Was someone hurt? Is that why you don't want to talk about it?" the social worker pressed.

"This is it," the detective – Kusanagi – whispered, his eyes riveted on the boy in the next room. "Give us something we can work with, kid."

The boy didn't answer the social worker's question, but his face and body language spoke for him: he was clearly getting upset.

Hieda leaned forward in his chair and tapped his finger against the drawing the boy was working on. "Who are you drawing now?"

For a moment, there was a very oppressive silence.

"This is chichi-ue," Isshou said finally, pointing to a tall stick figure on the right. Suddenly, he drew a swift red line through the figure. "He is dead."

It was strange to hear the small boy speaking with such complete impassiveness and it was only more confusing that he chose to refer to his father with a very formal archaic honorific.

"This is haha-ue," the boy continued, indicating the next figure. Again, he drew a line through it. "She is dead."

"What about this last one? Is he your onii-san?" Hieda asked.

Isshou paused, staring intently at the last figure he'd drawn, and briefly looked at his hands, scowling. He shook his head, schooling his face once more, and put down the crayon. "Only half," he said quietly. "And he is neither dead nor alive."

"What!" Kusanagi blurted, perfectly capturing the thoughts of the two flummoxed women beside him.

Hieda looked up at the glass for a moment and then returned his attention to the boy. "What do you mean by that, Isshou?"

"He's going to be asleep forever," Isshou replied. "Can I go now?"

Inwardly, Mama breathed a sigh of relief: the Isshou she had come to know had returned.

Once again, the social worker looked to the glass and stood. "I'm just going to go check on something and then Higurashi-san can take you home, ok?"

Isshou shrugged and pulled over a new sheet of paper. He didn't look up when Hieda left the room.

"Did he just tell us that his brother is in a coma?" Kusanagi asked, looking at the two social workers for confirmation; they nodded in the affirmative.

"Half-brother," Mama corrected and earned herself a pointed glare from the detective. Mizuhara merely seemed slightly amused.

At this, Hieda gave a half smile and shook his head. "An important distinction to remember, Kusanagi-san. He and his brother might not share the same surname."

The detective snorted, looking thoroughly annoyed with the social worker.

"You'll be looking for an older boy, possibly a teenager," Hieda added. "He'll have identical coloring to Isshou. The parents are deceased and, judging by his reaction, there is a strong possibility that he saw it happen."

Mama shifted uncomfortably on her feet and peered through the mirror at the small boy. She remembered when her husband died, how it affected Kagome, and her heart could not help but worry for Isshou, who had lost both parents. He was so young, only a few years older than Kagome had been when her father died. It had been so difficult for Kagome to recover from the loss of her father and it made Mama wonder how Isshou would fare, having lost both parents.

Isshou looked up at the glass again and smiled.

His smile reassured her and, with a renewed heart, Mama turned away from the two-way mirror. "Excuse me, Kusanagi-san... Hieda-san, Mizuhara-san... If you're done, may I fetch Isshou? It's almost time for lunch."

The detective nodded, dismissing her with a wave of his hand. "We're done here for now, Higurashi-san."

"Thank you," Mama said, bowing slightly, and started for the door to the next room.

Mizuhara piped up then: "Higurashi-san, you should probably consider taking Isshou to a psychiatrist in the future. These quiet episodes of his are of some concern."

"I will consider it," Mama replied, bowing once again.

* * *

Isshou expertly flipped the soccer ball up into the air, just as Souta had showed him how to, and bounced it off his knee. Bouncing it higher, he imitated something he'd seen one of the older boys do and used his head to knock the ball away from him. It hit the ground, bounced a few times and rolled into a bush. 

Biting his lip, the small boy looked over his shoulder to the nearby park bench where Higurashi kaa-san was sitting. "It went into the bush," he pouted.

"I saw. Now, it can't have gone very far," the kind woman reasoned, smiling.

Isshou gave her a confused stare. "But who will protect you if I go?"

"Don't worry, Isshou," she said, still smiling. "I will keep careful watch until you return."

He nodded, assured, and ran off towards the bush. Getting down on his hands and knees, the small boy crawled under the leafy canopy. The ball was resting innocently not more than an arm's length in front of him. He smiled in triumph and reached for it, when a low, rumbling growl stopped him in mid-reach.

Behind the ball was the cement base of the iron park fence and, beyond the iron bars, a snarling black and brown dog bared its teeth at him.

Isshou didn't move at first, his amber eyes locking on the dark brown eyes of the angry dog. Something was painfully moving under his skin, setting his veins on fire. He drew his other hand up slowly, fingers arced in what he somehow knew was an attack position.

The dog's growl turned into an apologetic whine as it quickly stepped back from the fence and rolled onto its back. _Sorry, sorry,_ it seemed to be saying.

Isshou smiled then, letting his hand fall, and crawled forward into the small clear space between the bush and the fence. He stood and reached through the fence, offering out the palm of his hand to the dog, which rolled onto its feet and eagerly sniffed the proffered hand.

_Aniki-ue, aniki-ue,_ it woofed happily, rubbing its big head into his small hand.

"Nice doggie," the little boy said delightedly, gently scratching behind the dog's floppy black ears. The soccer ball lay next to his feet, temporarily forgotten.

"So, who is your new friend, Isshou?" the calm voice of Higurashi kaa-san reached out from behind him.

Isshou looked back to see the kind woman smiling at him from the other side of the bush. "This is Kimi," he explained, turning back to continue petting the dog.

"She's very pretty," Higurashi kaa-san said, matter-of-factly.

He nodded absently, scratching the contented dog under the chin. The burning in his veins had now completely cooled, settling back into perfect stillness beneath his skin.

However, if anyone looked closely enough, they would have been able to make out the faint traces of markings on his face.

* * *

AN: Back from the land of winter break-y goodness! Now, if only I can make up my mind about which is more painful, learning a language or precalc? Ok, notes... Isshou (as a noun) means either 'general' or 'laugh/smile'. I think it should be pretty obvious who he is by the end of this chapter. Inuyasha is mentioned briefly in this chapter. The dog at the end, Kimi, recognizes him for what he is, that's for certain! Next chapter: Sealed. Review! 

A note on _aniki-ue_: it means 'my brother, above me' and denotes great respect. Rather appropriate of Kimi, no?


	3. Sealed

Under the Skin

By TwinEnigma

* * *

Scroll 2: Sealed

"...And so it came to pass that the fearsome youkai Inuyasha was sealed to the Goshinboku, never to move again," Jii-chan finished slowly.

Isshou looked at him curiously. "Is it true? Is he still pinned to the Goshinboku?"

"Of course he is," the old man said and took a sip of his tea. "Five hundred years ago, my ancestors built the shrine to appease his spirit and we have guarded it ever since."

The small boy blinked absently, thinking a moment, and then asked, "Can I see him?"

"No, child," Jii-chan sighed, shaking his head. "The building is much too old, the wood far too unstable. You will not go into that shrine, is that clear?"

Isshou sulked, but reluctantly nodded.

There was silence a moment between the two of them as Jii-chan sipped his tea. Finally, the old man spoke again, "Have I ever told you the legend of..."

He trailed off, realizing that the strange boy had left the room, and sighed, sipping his tea once more. "How unfortunate... He would have enjoyed the next story."

* * *

Some time later, Souta and Isshou were playing soccer in the shrine courtyard – a practice mostly frowned on by Jii-chan, not that the boys minded much. Ever since Souta had introduced the sport to the pale boy, they had been playing whenever possible. Mama encouraged them, more so because it got the boys out of the house and away from the video games than anything else. Kagome was merely glad that it kept them both out of her hair so she could do her homework in peace and quiet, as both boys had a habit of finding ways to annoy her. And so, they played in the courtyard, laughing as they kicked the ball back and forth. 

"Higurashi kaa-san sure seems busy," Isshou piped up, passing the ball.

Souta grinned and returned the ball. "It's almost onee-chan's birthday. Mama wants to throw her a surprise party."

"A surprise party?" the pale boy asked, looking a little bewildered as he trapped the ball with his foot.

The other boy nodded excitedly. "It'll be loads of fun! You'll like it a lot!"

"Kagome-nee-chan isn't going to have those girls come over again, is she?" Isshou pouted, half-heartedly passing the ball. He didn't really like Kagome's friends at all. They were too nosy and rather boring in his opinion.

Souta shrugged, trapping the ball and flipping it up onto his knee. "I don't know," he answered as he juggled the ball from knee to knee and then kicked it back. "But I hope they don't come and ruin the party with gossip."

Isshou nodded in agreement, easily trapping the soccer ball and guiding it with his feet. Taking a half-step back, the pale boy quickly set himself up for the return kick when something suddenly shifted under his skin. His foot connected with the ball and launched it through the air with a velocity that few professional soccer players could hope to match, streaking well over the other boy's head. It then punched right through the wooden door of the shrine of Inuyasha and landed somewhere inside the dark building.

"Oops?" the pale boy offered, uncertain of what else to say.

Souta slowly turned around to see what the ball had hit and winced as he got a good look at the hole. "Jii-chan isn't going to like this..."

"It's not like I meant to do that," Isshou said sulkily. "Jii-chan said that shrine was old and unstable anyway. The wood was probably rotten."

This earned a sigh from Souta, who shook his head slowly. "I guess it couldn't be helped. But what are we going to do now?"

Isshou considered it a moment and, finally, said, "We should probably get the ball."

"The ball?" Souta managed, going a little pale in the face as he peered into the darkness visible through the hole in the door. "You mean... we should go in there?"

The pale boy nodded eagerly, a small smirk on his lips. "Aren't you curious about what's in there?"

"Well... yeah, I guess so," Souta reluctantly admitted. He'd never actually been inside the shrine before, but Kagome claimed she's snuck in when she was younger and that she'd seen the youkai. She had said it was a creepy old mummy and showed him pictures of mummies from a book when he asked what mummies were. Poor Souta had nightmares for weeks, until Kagome explained that she was actually just kidding around and hadn't really snuck in at all. Still, Souta couldn't help but think of a horribly withered mummy with vicious-looking claws and empty eyes.

Isshou beamed, grabbed the other boy by the arm and started dragging him towards the shrine. "This is the perfect opportunity then!"

"Are you sure you didn't plan this?" asked Souta, giving his odd houseguest a suspicious glare.

The pale boy gave him a look that plainly read _'I can **not** believe you just asked me that'._ Carefully, he stepped onto the first step and, satisfied that it would hold his weight, he headed for the broken door.

Souta hesitated a moment and then joined the other boy at the doors. They peered through the hole curiously, easily spotting the soccer ball in the shaft of light the hole in the door made. A series of stairs disappeared into the shadows, leading up towards what they figured was the trunk of the ancient tree. There wasn't enough light to make out much else in the shrine.

"Help me open the doors," Isshou said, quickly examining the door in front of him.

"Are you crazy?" Souta exclaimed, looking at him like he'd grown a second head.

Isshou rolled his eyes. "How else did you think we were going to go and get the ball? Neither of us is small enough to fit through the hole. Besides," he smiled, "Look on the bright side! We'll be able to see a lot better with the doors open."

"We really shouldn't," Souta protested meekly.

But the pale boy wouldn't have any of it and started to tug the door open. It didn't budge an inch, so Isshou tugged harder while Souta watched with growing anxiety. Finally, the door gave a mighty lurch and slid back, unbalancing Isshou.

"Oof!" he exclaimed, landing firmly on his butt.

Souta shook his head and went to help the other boy up. "Okay, you got the door open. Could we _please_ go and get Mama before you hurt yourself?"

"Don't be silly," Isshou scoffed, now back on his feet. He paused, leveling a critical eye at the dark-haired boy. "You're not afraid of the dark, are you?"

"No way!"

"Then, what are you waiting for? Aren't you curious?"

"Of course I'm curious, but you said yourself that Jii-chan said the wood was rotten and I don't want to break my neck or anything – Mama would have a fit! Besides, _you_ broke the door, so _you_ should go and get the ball. It's that simple," Souta said matter-of-factly and crossed his arms over his chest to close the matter.

"Suit yourself," Isshou replied with a shrug and stepped into the shrine of Inuyasha.

Souta stayed put, having firmly decided that he was _not_ going to go inside and risk any sort of encounters with a potentially mummified demon or rotted out floorboards. He wasn't scared or anything, but he had a feeling that it was just not a good idea to go in there and so he stayed right where he was, watching as the pale boy moved deeper into the shrine.

Isshou initially had been heading towards the soccer ball, but as soon as he'd gotten a little deeper into the shrine, his eyes began to stray towards the stairs leading up to the Goshinboku and, quite naturally, his feet followed. The pale boy tentatively put his foot on the first step and pressed down firmly. The wood held, much to his relief and that of his reluctant observer. Very slowly, Isshou walked up the steps, being extra careful to make sure that each one would hold his weight before going further.

As the pale boy reached the top step, Kagome's voice called out from the main entrance of the shrine grounds: "Tadaima!"

Souta gulped and hoped his big sister would go straight to the house first. However, it seemed that the shrine kami were not on his side today and Kagome was looking in their direction. Her eyes went from him, to the doors of the small shrine, and back to him as she mentally put together the pieces. Then, she groaned in frustration and marched over, clearly expecting an explanation.

"We're gonna be in _so_ much trouble," Souta whimpered.

* * *

Isshou now stood at the top of the stairs on a narrow little platform. It was still quite dark, even with the light from the open door, and he could only just make out the outline of the ancient tree. Thick gnarled vines crept up the trunk and, following them up with his eyes, he caught a glimpse of a dull red sleeve in the shadows. Narrowing his eyes, he followed the edge of the sleeve up to a shoulder and the bowed head of the ancient silver-haired youkai. A _shimenawa_ hung across the trunk of the tree, running directly across the vines that concealed the rest of the youkai's body from view, and the small boy wondered if that simple festooned rope was really all it took to bind such a creature. 

Hoping to get a look at the youkai's face, Isshou crept closer and stood on the very tips of his toes. He was greeted by a fierce red and gold face with jagged purple markings across the cheekbones and dark empty eyes. Long, curving white fangs hung over its lips and the mouth itself was frozen in a savage snarl. So this is what the fearsome youkai Inuyasha looked like...

"It's a mask, you know," said Kagome, startling the pale boy so greatly that he practically jumped.

The teenaged girl walked up to the platform easily, as though she knew full well that the old boards were completely sound, and looked up at the ancient youkai. Souta lingered in the light cast on the floor by the open doors, unwilling to leave them but unwilling to venture any further inside.

"I haven't been in here in years," Kagome said. "Not since Papa held the shikinen sengu for this shrine. I remember the poor carpenters were so scared – well, mostly scared of Papa, anyway. He was worried that they might accidentally damage the Goshinboku or Inuyasha in some way during reconstruction."

"Why does he have a mask on?" Souta asked, images of withered old mummies with glowing eyes shuffling through the back of his mind.

Kagome looked over her shoulder at her younger brother and grinned wickedly. "Because he's a dried up old corpse!" she cackled, adding an evil laugh for effect.

Souta squeaked in terror and almost instantly realized that his sister was just teasing him. "That's not funny! I'm going to tell Mom!"

"Go right ahead," the teenaged girl said dryly, rolling her eyes as her little brother stomped off to find Mama.

Isshou, who had seen similar teasing episodes, merely noted that Souta was scared of 'dried up corpses' and turned back to the older girl. "Kagome-nee-chan, is he really a corpse? Did your father put the mask on him?"

"Actually, I don't know." Kagome admitted. "And I haven't got a clue where the mask came from."

The pale little boy sniffed and wrinkled his nose. "It looks like one of those kagura masks."

Kagome nodded in agreement and gave him a mischievous look out of the corner of her eye. "You know, I've always wondered what's _under_ that mask. What do you say, Isshou? Should we sneak a peek?"

Isshou's eyes widened in surprise and with a broad smile already forming on his face, he nodded eagerly.

"Let's see," the teenager murmured, more to herself than anyone else, as she raised her hands. "There's got to be a ribbon or something..."

Seeing as Kagome was being very careful and taking her time with the mask, Isshou went back to examining the ancient youkai. A lock of silver hair trailed down from the youkai's bowed head, hanging within reach. Isshou could not resist the temptation to touch it, wondering if it felt like his hair or not.

His fingers just barely brushed the silver strands when something shifted under his skin again. Immediately, pink energy arced across the youkai's body and leapt at the small boy's fingers. Isshou yelped, yanking his hand back from the burning energy.

"What's the matter, Isshou?" Kagome asked, looking down at him as she held the sides of the ancient youkai's head in her hands.

He looked up at her, fully intending to say 'it burnt me,' but the words died on his tongue. The eyes beneath the mask had opened and were glowing bright red.

* * *

AN: A Shimenawa is a sacred hemp rope, often festooned with white paper. The shikinen sengu purification ritual is a bit more complicated to explain and I'm not the best person to explain it, even though Kagome's lines should give you a general gist of the main purpose. I'll probably draw the mask at some point. Mou, I'd better, since I spent so long researching them! Ok... Reviews and Comments are welcome. 


End file.
